This work was carried out in the province of Almería (Spain), which has more than 33,464 ha of greenhouses, with bell pepper and tomato crops representing 37.2% and 25.6%, respectively, of the total area. This is why the introduction of other crops is necessary for the diversification of horticultural crops in the area.

The “garrofón” bean or lima bean corresponds to the species Phaseolus lunatus L. and is native to Central and South America. In Spain, it is mainly cultivated in the Valencian Community, mainly because its tender and tasty beans, known as “garrofós”, are used as an ingredient in the preparation of “paellas” (typical culinary dish of Valencia). The fruits are green pods containing several kidney-shaped seeds. The objectives of the trial were to evaluate, characterize, and select the accessions that were best adapted to greenhouse growing conditions and to the climatic conditions of the province of Almería, with milder winters than in its traditional growing area.

A 1000 m² greenhouse trial was carried out under netting, in which the agronomic performance of 7 cultivars of locust bean, 5 accessions from the COMAV germplasm bank (University Institute for the Conservation and Improvement of the Valencian Agrodiversity), and 2 commercial cultivars from the company Intersemillas S.A. (Pintada and Peladilla) was evaluated.

The total production obtained ranged from 7.2 kg.plant^-1 for cultivar BGV016529 to 14.3 kg.plant^-1 for cultivar BGV008283. The commercial cultivars Pintada and Peladilla yielded 9.2 and 10.4 kg plant^-1, respectively. However, no significant differences were obtained between cultivars.

As for quality analysis, all cultivars were first studied for physical parameters (weight, length, and width of the pod; weight, length, and width of the grain; number of grains per pod). As for chemical and nutritional parameters, acidity, texture, pH, soluble solids, and ascorbic acid content were measured.

The analyses showed that the pod length is between 12.9 and 16.1 cm and the width is between 3 and 3.3 cm. The number of grains per pod is 2.4-3.7, with a fresh weight of grain between 2.4 and 3.8 g. Values for acidity (around 0.03%) or ascorbic acid content (0.4 mg AA/100 mg p.f.) were very homogeneous among all the accessions. They did show variability in soluble solids content (between 1.3 and 1.8 ºBrix) or firmness (between 26.8 N and 35 N).